Turtle,
My 79 had a problem cooling at highway speeds until I sealed every last possible place that air could flow around and over the radiator instead of thru it. After that, at any speed above 40 I didn't even need a fan, the front spoiler helps bring in more air as well. I believe ESU can tell you the difference it makes.
BErnie

 

Turtle, somewhere you've got either an air flow problem or a coolant flow problem (clogged rad?) or a combination. Vettes aren't known for a lack of cooling at speed.

 

you haven't had a cooling problem at speed because you haven't pushed hard enought yet.

I followed a dude in a 72 up to Frisco (vettes on the rockies) he swore up and down he never had any cooling problems. We were hauling pretty good up the mountain. He pulled his right in front of the lobby door at the hotel. After we checked in he had a huge puddle of antifreeze under it. I wanted to laugh my *** off.

Let me drive your car on a road course. I'll get it to heat up.

BTW, I don't have an air flow problem anymore. \\





a cut-off wheel and sallsall can be your best friends.

 

Well at least it doesn't look like you know who did it...

 

that's a show n' shine bubba.

 

thanks

 

ESU doesnt know yet cause his mark 8 is still sittin in the garage. Soon as the hot weather gets here I'll let everyone know.
ESU

 

Turtle,
At one time I was thinking of opening up the license area too. But at 100 plus MPH in the summer my temp guage reads 165. I slow down to 70 and it climes to 170 so I didn't opemn it up. I know several that have done it though!
Bernie

 

I see there are 2 different amp sizes?

http://www.dccontrol.com/

Does the Mark VIII fan need the 60 amp unit?

 

I was told by the guys at Delta that the 30 amp unit would work fine for a MarkVIII fan. I personally would feel safer with the 60 amp though, as the MarkVIII fan can hit well over 30 amps during a full high speed start up.

 

Turtle and Kid,
The one thing that hasn't been discussed here is fuel economy. A mechanical fan pulls a lot of air and the faster the engine goes, the more air it pulls, and the more petrol is burned because of the drag of the fan on the engine. Fuel consumption decreases of half to one mile per gallon can be achieved by removing the engine driven fan. Sure, the electic fan uses electricity that is generated by the alternator that loads the engine when high current demand is required and this uses a little more petrol, but understand this:-

The (alternator's) demand on the engine for current flow to the fan is when the engine is running at its slowest speed, i.e. idling, slow moving traffic, and the slight increase in fuel consumption on a slow revving engine is negligible compared to an engine with a mechanical fan that RUNS ALL THE TIME!

Add to this the fact that the roar that a mechanical fan gives all the time can "muffle" the sound of the engine itself, especially if a non-stock cam is fitted, and I would rather hear the crackle from the exhaust than have it muffled by the roar of the fan.

Obviously, if you race a car, fuel consumption is irrelevant, but for the 99+% of us who drive on the road, an increase in fuel economy is nothing to be sneezed at, and you will get this by throwing away that dinosaur of a mechanical fan and replacing it with a good electric one.

Regards from Down Under

aussiejohn

 

Photovette,
Great looking engine bay! Can you tell me what the A.C. compressor is? I have a '74 that came without a compressor or condensor, but has all the rest of the A.C. system fitted. I like the compact design of it and would like to fit one to my car.

Thanks in advance and

Regards from Down Under

aussiejohn

 

Fuel economy. Yeah, thats why we all went out and bought old Corvettes. We all wanted to get "fuel consumption decreases of half to one mile per gallon".

And if the "crackle from the exhaust" is in danger of being "muffled by the roar of the fan", I think its time to go shopping for a louder exhaust. I'm presently running Flowmaster 40s. No annoying fan noise here.

 

are you seriously contemplating gas mileage? you drive an old corvette. theres a civic on my block for sale slammed with a kit and rims... 35 mpg right there...want the number? seriously though you want better gas mileage? stop reving up at every intersection and whenever some piece of tail walks by. that would probably compensate for the large fan vs electric and flowmaster 40s with no cats is the way to go kid!

 

Most all electrical equipment is rated at constant load. Inrush is already accounted for.

 

I have the mechanical fan cooling my 498 and it has no issues keeping it cool. Decent fairly new radiator and a stock water pump. Most of the foam surrounding is long gone and it has no air dam either. That being said I need to ditch it and go electric, I will also be making this conversion for a number of reasons. With electric it sounds much better, idles more smoothly, and most importantly I need install my brace that goes across the front of the motor between the A arms. Frame is beginning to crack in places from the stresses and this should eliminate that and stiffen up the front end considerably being a vert. for those of us with big blocks who need do this the clutch fan simply has to go. I have an auxiliary electric hooked up right now and switched it to come on at a lower temp before the clutch fan. It sounds and runs much better without that clutch fan coming on and made me realize just how much I hate the thing. The existing auxiliary just isn't enough to do the job by itself on a hot day and I wouldn't chance depending on it alone being a cheapo unit as an assist if ever needed and was put on prior to diagnosing a previous clutch fan that was weak.

I think this scenario with the brace applies to many and why they need go electric.

Cheers
-Andre

 

Nice cooling system!!

I'm actually getting ready to either do a rebuild or drop in a crate motor that won't be coming with a water pump, and I've been looking at all sorts of different pumps.

Now, I've heard things about running the "high-flow" water pumps, that it's not good for the motors because it can actually cause cavitation and be less effective at moving the coolant at higher RPMs. That doesn't exactly sound like a problem you'd be having, but I was curious about if anyone else had heard that...

However, it also sounds like I might need to throw in a better alternator than what I've got in my Vette, since you guys are all saying these fans suck more juice?

 

You guys are funny. Its the dead of winter (when the thread started) and the guys saying "my car runs coolder than an ice box" live up north and the "my car runs hot as heck" live down south. TFF

 

Kid Vette and oberth,
Yes, I am considering fuel economy. In case you guys live in a cave somewhere, most everyone else knows the world is running out of petroleum, or at least the stuff that's relatively cheap to dig up. I know there's plenty left in places like north east Alaska, but there's a National Park up there and an "army" of conservationalists who don't want the Park dug up for oil.

Sure , I didn't buy my Corvette with fuel economy as the Number One feature, but it's all part of the picture. If you don't believe me, just check up the threads here for conversions to TH200 and TH700 overdrive transmissions, or check out Forum vendors such as Keisler and Classic Chevy 5 Speed, who make a living providing overdrive manual transmission kits for Corvette owners. The main aim of these transmissions is to lower engine revs at highway speeds to lower fuel consumption. These kits cost thousands of dollars to save maybe two to ten miles per gallon, while replacing the mechanical fan with an electric one will cost only a few hundred, but will still save about one m.p.g.

Without an overdrive transmission, that could mean a fuel saving of up to five percent, less with an O/D. You guys add up how much money you spend a year on fuel for your Corvette, then work out one, two or five per cent of that and tell me if you would rather see it in your pocket, or the petrol retailer's.

We're all living on the same planet, and it's running out of the raw product that makes out Corvettes run. Let's all try to use readily available methods to minimise our fuel consumption which will increase the time we can drive them.

Regards from Down Under

aussiejohn

 

I don't know about that.

Sometimes i wonder what planet some of you are on.


I like my rad to run as cool as possible and a fan that turns all the time accomplishes that. If the rad is at 120 degrees and the engine is at 190 and you hold the hammer down for a while you have some thermal reserve.

I am contributing to the planet by NOT buying a new car. Think of all the pollution that is caused by the manufacture of a new car.